Kātiki Point
- 30 min return by the same track
- Easy
A short peninsula walk near Moeraki, exploring an historic pā site and offering close encounters with yellow-eyed penguins / hoiho.
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Walking time
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30 min |
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Distance
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1.4km |
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Type
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Return by the same track
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Grade
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Easy |
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Bookings
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No bookings — open access
No — open access
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Starts
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Lighthouse Road, Moeraki |
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Maps
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NZTopo50-CD18
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Altitude
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10m
–
45m
Altitude change 35m
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Moeraki is a small seaside settlement south of Oamaru. Follow Lighthouse Road over rolling farmland to the Kātiki Historic Reserve. This reserve is managed in partnership with the Department of Conservation, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, and the local Moeraki runanga.
From the car park and through a gate, an easy track leads past the lighthouse (built 1878) and down to the coastline. Penguins are easily heard calling in the nearby scrub. The beaches are a striking orange. Look out for fur seals and penguins. Penguins are most likely to be onshore early morning and late afternoon. This site is a good bet to see yellow-eyed penguins up close, and is a key breeding site for what is one of the world's rarest penguins.
The track leads out onto the headland. This headland is the site of Te Raka a Hineatea Pā. The pā was constructed around 1750 by the Kāi Tahu rangatira, Taoka.
| This track needs a photograph. |